Carding engine



E. C. BROOKS CARDING ENGINE Nov. 21, 1933.

Filed June 5, 1931 2 SheetsSheet l E. C. EROOK GARDING ENGINE Nov. 21, 19330 Filed June 5, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet Patented Nov. 21, 1933 PATENT; OFFICE 1,936,548 CARDING ENGINE Eugene 0. Brooks, Springfield, Vt., assignor to V John'T. Slack Corporation, Springfield, Vt., a corporation of Vermont ApplicationJune 5, 1

6 Claims.

This invention relates to carding engines used for carding and cleaning textile fibers, and is especially applicable to carding engines intended for use in, carding disintegrated rag stock that is to' be reworked into fabric and other fibrous stock, whether virgin or Waste, from which it is desired to eliminate or remove strands, hairs or threads, such for example as hard twisted worsted yarn of greater than the normal length of 10 threads that it is desired to include in the carded sliver.

The elimination of such threads, or other undesired elements, is effected according to the present invention by providing means arranged at a suiiicient distance from the periphery of a revolving carding cylinder, or drum, to avoid withdrawing staple of normal or desired length, while engaging and removing fibrous elements of greater than normal length as they stand out, or are projected beyond, the path of movement of fibers of normal desired length. To project the free ends of long fibers beyond those of normal length, various means may be used, and I have herein described two ways for effecting projection of the long fibers into the path of the collecting cr separating elements, namely, an arrangement by which the collectors or separators are so related to the revolving card that gravity acts to present the free ends of the longer threads to the collector elements, also using an electro-statically charged electrode for projecting the long fibers outward from the adjacent cylinder into the orbital path of the collector element. While either arrangement, the one utilizing gravity as the projecting force, or the electro-statically charged electrode, may be used, yet I find that the most thorough and complete elimination of fibers of undesired or objectionable length is eifected by using both the electro- 5.3 static charging and the gravity projection features in successive stages in the passage of the material being carded through the carding engine. This and other features of the invention will be particularly described in the following specification and will be defined in the claims hereto annexed.

In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated for the most part diagrammatically the arrangement and construction embodying the principles of this invention, in which Fig. l is a side elevation in diagrammatic showing of a double or two-cylinder carding engine.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail view of the dofiing roll by which the carded fibers are transferred from the first cylinder to the second cylinder.

931. Serial No. 542,297

, Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view showing a portion of one or the carding cylinders and a pair of its associated worker and cleaner rolls, combined with a charging electrode andsuitable collector or separating means for removing or separating the longer strands, or fibers, from an adjacent revolving roll.

Fig. 4 is a detail view of one end of the revolv ing charging. electrode showing the insulated journal support therefor.

According to the practice of the invention as illustrated in the drawings, I employ a carding engine'of well known type, in this case a double card, embracing two revolving card clothed cylinders 2 and 3 suitably journaled in the frame 1 of the machine and between these two carding cylinders is mounted a revolving dofling roll '7, which acts to transfer the carded fiber from the first cylinder 2 to the second cylinder 3 by stripping the carded fiber from the first cylinder and delivering it to the second cylinder.

As is the usual practice, the shredded or fibrous stock is fed to the first cylinder by a licker-in roll ,4 and then, as the cylinder 2 revolves in the direction of the indicating arrow, the fibers are stripped from the teeth of the cylinder or drum by the worker rolls 5 from which they are removed and returned to the carding cylinder by the clearer rolls 6. This operation of stripping and returning the fibers to the revolving carding cylinder is repeated over and over again with each couple of worker and clearer rolls until, at last, the film of fibers reaches the doffer roll '7 on the opposite side of the drum which, in the form illustrated in Fig. 1, also forms a transfer roll for stripping cylinder-2 and depositing the stripped film upon cylinder 3. Before such transfer is effected, provision is made for separating or removing fibrous elements of undesired length and, for convenience, the gravity form of separator device is applied .to the dofiing roll or cylinder 7, as shown in large scale in Fig. .2.

Adjacent the periphery of the dofling roll '7 and well down toward its lowermost point is arranged a collector roll 8 provided with napper clothing which revolves in a clockwise direction, as does the doffer cylinder 7, so that th'eadjacent surfaces of the doiiing cylinder and of the collector, or separator, roll move in opposite directions. This collector roll 8 is spaced from the periphery of the doffer roll 7 a suificient distance to bring the free ends of the fibers of undesired length, herein referred to as the long fibers, within reach of the collector roll 8 and so that only the long fibers are caught and removed. A clearer or cleaner roll 9 adjacent to the collector roll 8 strips or removes all the fibers collected by the roll Sand deposits them .on a

travelling belt 10 or in any suitable receptacle. A sheet metal guard orshield 11 servesto de fiect the stripped long fibers onto the receptacle or carrier 10.

To further aid the removal of the long fibers, or threads, I employ a revolving collector roll 12, also covered with napper clothing, and for convenience this collector is preferably associated with one or more of the worker rolls 5 from which it is spaced a sufficient distance to be out of reach of fibers of normal length, while engaging and detaching the outwardly projecting free ends of the long undesired fibers. In this case, the force employed for projecting the free ends of the long fibers into engagement with the collector roll comprises a slowly revolving electrode 11, which is kept electro-statically charged during the operation of the machine by a metallic contact tongue, or plate 14, supported and electrically connected with a main 15 of an electro-statically charged circuit by means of the conductor 13, so that the surface of the charging electrode 11 carries a high tension electro-static charge. The rotating electrode 11 is shown in the form of a tubular drum supported at each end by means of a head 16 of suitable insulating material, such as bakelized fiber, in which is secured centrally a projecting journal 17 adapted to be mounted in suitable bearings on opposite sides oi'the engine frame.

This electro-statically charged electrode is arranged somewhat above the collector roll 12 and to one side of the worker roll 5, so that the electro-static field maintainedby the electrode causes the free ends of the subtending long fibers to stand out away from the periphery of the cylinder 5 as they pass the point nearest to the electrode, thus causing the free ends of the long fibers as they continue their revolution with the roll 5 to be engaged by the collector roll 12, whose adjacent wire clothed surface revolving in the opposite direction to the revolution of thefibers engages and removes the long fibers from the worker roll. This projection of the long fibers into the path of revolution of the wire teeth on the collector roll is probably aided the arrangement wreceptacle by means of a belt conveyor having scraper blades or wings 21 wheels 22. a

While the collector device, thatis dependent upon the action of gravity, for projecting the fibers into its field of action is located well below the center of whatever cylinder it is associated with, it will be understood that the electro-static carried on revolving fiber projecting means may be located at any convenient point around the circumferencefl'of the carding cylinder and as many of them as shall seem advantageous with respect to the particular kind of work being done may be used in association with such a cardirr cylinder.

For the sake of convenient illustration, I have shown the fiber projecting electrode and its coacting-detaching roll associated with one of the Worker rolls on the second cylinder, but it is within the scope of this invention to use it at any desired point in respect to either, or both, carding cylinders. Furthermore, for some purposes most satisfactory results are secured by using both the electrically charged form and the gravity form of collector elements in a tandem varrangement working in succession.

The projection of the free ends of the long fibersis facilitated by the tendency of the shorter fibers to work deeper into the clothing and of the longer fibers to work to the outside of the clothing. This tendency is taken advantage of alternately by the electro-static and the gravity forms of detaching devices at intervals between the-' feedingof the fiber into the carding engine for treatment and its final removal by dofiing and is an important factor in the very complete elimination of the objectionably long threads in the carding operation. The selective action of the detaching rolls is controlled by the setting or adjustment of such rolls or detaching devices for the purpose of securing their proper spacing from the surface of the associated fiber-carrying cylinder or roll, since obviously the greater the spacing between the associated rolls the greater will be the length of the staple remaining on the fiber-carrying roll or cylinder for further working or carding.

What I claim is: a 1. In a carding engine the combination with a revoluble fiber carrying cylinder, electro-staticalwhile so projected from the cylinder, thereby'120 separating the longer fibers from the shorter fibers being carded.

2. In a carding engine the combination with a revoluble wire clothed cylinder, of an electrostatically charged element arranged adjacent the periphery of said cylinder and establishing a field of highpotential to cause the ends of the opposed fibers to stand out from the cylinder, and revoluble detaching means for engaging such outstanding fibers of predetermined length and detaching them from the mass of fibers being carded.

3. ma carding engine the combination with a revoluble wire clothed cylinder, of an electrostatically charged element arranged adjacent the periphery of said cylinder and establishing a field of high potential to cause the ends of the opposed fibers to stand out from the cylinder, and revoluble detaching means for engaging such outstanding fibers of predetermined length and detaching them from the mass of fibers being carded, and means for stripping the collected fibers from such detaching means.

4. In a carding engine the combination with a revoluble wire clothed cylinder forming a carrier for the fibers being carded, an associated electrically charged revoluble electrode for causing the oppositefibers on the cylinder to stand out away from said carrier, means for maintaining said electrode in charged condition, and a revoluble Wire clothed detaching roll spaced from said carrier and from said electrode to engage and detach outstanding fibers of more than predetermined length.

5. In a carding engine the combination with a revoluble carding cylinder and its associated working, stripping and doffing rolls, of thread collecting devices arranged in diilerent positions about the periphery of the carding cylinder to engage fibers that are projected outwardly into the path of said collector devices through the mechum, respectively, of an electro-static field and of gravity and detach the longer threads from the mass of fiber being carded.

6. In a carding engine the combination with a revoluble carding cylinder, an associated card clothed roll for stripping the fiber from said cylinder, a selective collector roll peripherally covered with card clothing and spaced from the stripping roll at a distance sufficient to avoid engagement with threads and fibers under a predetermined length and also spaced within range to collect from said first-named roll fibers in excess of a predetermined length, and a revoluble beater for removing all fibers from the collector roll.

EUGENE C. BROOKS. 

